Home Ideas

The secret to a perfect color combination of the rooms in a house is the 60-30-10 rule where 60 % is the dominant color, 30 % secondary color and 10 % accent color. This color combination works every time, anywhere. The following are some tips on how to combine the colors for a balanced room.

1. If you have finished adding splashes of color to your room and still feel something is missing, try adding a black pillow, picture frame or glass accent to enhance the other colors of the room.
2. Use emotional association by deciding on what emotional impact you want the room to have. For lively feel, choose reds and yellows. For subdued environment, pick blues and browns. For a restful feeling, try greens, blues and browns. The emotional impact of the color should reflect the activities being done in a certain room.
3. Consider color contrast. A high-contrast space ( a room that uses light and dark values of color combinations like deep burgundy with light gold) appears clearer and more highly defined than a space that incorporates low contrasts. Use high contrast to enhance the formality of a room and low contrast to induce soothing qualities.
4. The direction the room’s windows face, where natural light is coming from, will have impact on how a color will appear in the room. Dark colors tend to look darker in rooms with northern exposure so lighten the color values in that room. The opposite is true for rooms with southern exposure; colors appear lighter. Adjust the color values accordingly.
5. Think about local or seasonal colors. Local colors reflect the area in which your house is located. Seasonal colors are colors that are associated with a certain season like mustard yellow, russet and brown reflects fall colors while pink, lilac and saffron yellow denotes spring colors.

6. Don’t forget the black. This is an old adage in interior design. Adding black element like a black box, lampshade, picture frame and other black accents will clarify and enhance all the other colors in the room.
7. Be inspired! Let your favorite rug, pillow or artwork be your color inspiration. Pick up the colors from these items as you choose additional paint, fabric or accessories for the room.
8. Neutrals will make it easy. When you are looking for an affordable way to update a room’s look from season to season, neutral larger furniture pieces will give you flexibility needed to change the pillows, paint, window treatment and other accessories.
9. Be inspired by nature’s color. try designing your interior space be replicating the color values of the outside world. Choose darker values of color for the floor (ground), medium color values for the walls (trees and mountains) and light color values for the ceiling (sky). This way, you will get a design that will always look great.
10. Live with color before you buy. When shopping for upholstery fabric, furniture finishes, window treatments or rugs, always ask for a sample. Leave it in the room for a couple of days and see the color effect when exposed to different kinds of lighting. If the room is used often at night, check out the color during the late afternoon and evening hours. If the room is used during the day, check it during morning or early afternoon hours.